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I'm not usually one to write reviews for products. I've written a couple on books, a couple products, and that's about it. I read them frequently to make decisions on purchases where I am going to spend over $100 for an item. That can be dangerous if you believe that the people reviewing don't work for the company for products they review. That is NOT the case for me, and I have now used this phone for a solid month and feel it's time to tell the truth about the device.
First, you need to know about me and what I do. I'm in sales...I travel a LOT for work..15-20 flights a year, extensive heavy driving around the New England/NYC Metro area for work. I manage a team of 8 salespeople and responsible for Sales Enablement and Development for the entire company coast to coast.
It's important to mention that because I need a phone that allows me to be productive.
The problem today with smartphone industry is that they have gone 85% marketing to the casual consumer and 15% to the power user.
Then I laugh at people who call themselves power users. To me, power users are not the You Tube surfing, video watching, game playing, constant texting consumer. That would be my daughter or sons.
Power users do find a need for those features, but for me, productivity combined with need for occasional use of those features in important.
What phones have I used? I started with a Blackberry Pearl back in 2005 or 2006 (can't remember) when they first released that device. LOVED IT. It was small, intuitive, and did what I wanted.
I gradually went to Curve and when the Bold series hit the market, I was in heaven.
BUT BUT BUT
What I realized was that I did not to open a few more web pages for work related issues and view some videos that I need to see for work as well. Blackberry had terribly slow web browsing, videos were slow to load, and the screen was dim and washed out. I started to fall into the trap of wanting something COOL. I needed to have the newest and coolest phone that could answer my need for those things.
Enter Android and Droid OG. I bought the 1st version of the Droid smartphone with keyboard. EXCELLENT device. At the time, it was fast, had a very good keyboard, and did all the things I mentioned flawlessly (for the most part). Android allowed me to make my phone what I wanted. It was visually appealing, light weight (enough) and handled email well.
I receive and send over 100 emails/day so that is the single biggest aspect. What I noticed was that Blackberry still killed it in that area, but often times, my Bold would freeze up or just reboot itself and it was getting worse and worse. It seemed RIM didn't really focus on the user experience that much and just got complacent
Without lecturing, the only thing constant in the business world is CHANGE. If you are unwilling to change, you will fall behind. Great salespeople are not complacent. They will make a huge sale, and while happy, not complacent. Great companies are the same way. RIMM was NOT that great company. I felt it...I abandoned the platform for the exciting new world of Android.
I used the Droid OG, then Droid 2, then Droid X, and finally went to Droid 3. Loved them all.
When Samsung released the Galaxy II, I made the change and loved that device more than all the others. Slim, fast, great screen, etc. BUT BUT BUT
Over time, I realized one thing. I HATED NOT HAVING PHYSICAL KEYBOARD. HATED IT.
I don't care how many keyboard apps Google could come up with, I hated them all. Inaccurate, slow, quirky, etc.
I began to remember that I needed a PHONE first (many many calls) and a device I could be productive with. I stated using signature for my emails on phone with "Please excuse spelling errors" because I was using a phone that was not very good at autocorrect and was terrible to type on.
GREAT for web, videos, texting, good apps, but NOT very good for the 1 damned thing I needed more than anything. EMAIL, CALENDAR, productivity.
Never used Apple for phone. I have a Mac Air (that I am typing this on now), I have a iPad (showing PPTs and videos to customers quickly is amazing)...I even have Apply TV (used to hook to projectors and I can show PPT from my iPad wirelessly for presentations). Apple is a great company, but I DO NOT LIKE the iPhone. Keyboard is small, worse than Android. Beautiful hardware and cameras, etc..Not for me.
ENTER THE Q10
Now, I have read all about RIM, now Blackberry, and their troubles. Let's face it...they were complacent. They did not innovate and keep one step ahead. They blew it.
Does it matter that they seem to get it now? Probably not...too little, too late. BUT, I LOVE THIS Q10!!!!!! Why?
The keyboard is phenom!! It's best I've ever used...the device itself is a premium feel. Hell, I switched from Samsung Galaxy III to this device. People called me NUTS. Said that was stupid.
Realize something. The Galaxy Line is excellent..might be best in class on the market. But again, I needed to be productive, not check to see if my lengthy emails were spelled properly or if I missed something because I accidentally erased a couple lines hitting wrong keys, etc.
The Q10 is BB best work by far. I can hammer out emails flawlessly. The autocorrect they employ is best on the market, BAR NONE. It's a joy to type on...The feeling in the hand is perfection.
Is it a PERFECT phone overall? Well, for me, it's as close as it gets. So, let's start with what I DON'T like or wish they would change:
1. Hub...I actually kind of like it, but there's too many layers to it. The back and forth nature of checking messages, then checking the thread, then backing out, can get tedious. Seems like they could do something to minimized the left to right swipes needed. I like Peak, but issue there is that if you swiped out of the email you were in, and you want to peak, it might not show you what's waiting if it's a text or other message in Hub...you have to be in the HUb view to Peak at all of them, and then, redundant if you want to go and actually open the message.
If they were able to allow you to look at email via Hub and give you a breakdown of what's in the hub quickly without 3-4 swipes, would be easier. But am I lazy? Are we all lazy now that we cannot make those extra gestures? Probably.
2. Apps. Now, I am not REALLY upset at this, because I don't play games. A smartphone for me is a PHONE and EMAIL/CALENDAR device. If I wanted to play games and not squint to see them, if I wanted to watch movies, I'll turn on my iPad. I watch movies on airplane and do so with iPad Why the hell people want to watch it on those 4-4.5 inch screens is beyond me. So if you're a gamer, stop reading and dont buy it.
How many of the 750,000 apps that Apple claims or others claim are REALLY USEFUL? You can have only so many fart apps, etc. I mean, come on now people...give me a break.
BUT
It is missing some of the basics that I really use constantly. Like Evernote. I'm a premium subscriber and Evernote, while sort of baked in, does not have a native app (heard there's one coming but still).
There might be a few others use, but I use the basics, and really, it has most of what I want. FB kind of basic, but that's ok.
THAT folks is the ONLY things I do not like. Seriously..And I bitch about a lot of stuff, but that's really it.
WHAT DO I LIKE?
1. Keyboard..Nuff said..Already said it.
2. Email Easy interface, this is what BB does best. Best in class, bar none. I set up via Microsoft Exchange Sync and get my emails even faster than my Android delivered them (send email and I have it on my Q10 in 3-5 seconds).
3. Screen. Yeah, it's small..but it's EXCELLENT to look at. Clear, bright, almost perfect.
4. BATTERY At first, I was mad because it really didn't seem great. But after two cycles of battery, it's EPIC. I send and receive approx 100 emails per day, 20-30 texts. I read the WSJ app on it, look at and check some ESPN stuff, others articles occasionally, and RSS Feeds that I subscribe to. Once in a while someone sends me video file to look at, and it runs great BTW. Listen to music here and there. Screen is on quite a bit.
Result? I'm unplugging at 5:45am and at 11pm when I plug in, I've got between 35 (lowest) and 50% battery life still left. AMAZING. And I am TRUE POWER USER.
5. Maps. Is it Google Maps and Nav? Nope...Not close. Does it do what I want it to do? YUP...On the mark. Very good Nav app here..basic, but clean and works. Sure I wish I still had my Google Maps, but I need to get places and it has NEVER let me down yet...not once.
Those are the things I need, and those are what it does GREAT.
So, LONG review..but let me say:
It's a premium feeling, premium looking Power Users dream. If you are into getting stuff done for WORK, with a little bit of play in there, it will not disappoint.
If you want to use your PHONE as a gaming tool, chatting tool, Facebooking Tweeting device, look elsewhere. I'm about getting stuff done. And the Q10 does just that.
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